Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the “Jamie and Wojo” show at 6 p.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter @jamiesamuelsen and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

Are the Red Wings for real after three consecutive wins, or should we still proceed with caution?

There are a couple of really cool things about a shortened NHL season.

Every game carries added weight. And it seems like the Red Wings are playing almost every night.

Those are the good parts.

The bad part is that teams have no time to practice or prepare. “Training camp” was little more than a week of workouts and, as a result, most every team in the NHL is evolving as the season moves along.

We’ve already reached the quarter-point of the season, which is astonishing. This is usually the point where the beat writers have to assign grades to each player and the experts start reaching conclusions about where a team is heading. But in this bizarre shortened season, we still have little idea who’s good and who’s not. (Yes. The Blackhawks are really good. I’m not so sure that the Kings are this bad.)

So what are the Red Wings?

They’re clearly not the gaudy super team we used to watch. But they’re also not the team that got blown out by the Blues 6-0 in the season opener. Some people overreacted mightily to that game, stating that it was a harbinger of a disappointing season of transition. Since the Red Wings' 1-2 start, they’re 6-2-1. They’re 2-0 against those same Blues. And they took the Blackhawks to overtime in Chicago before losing 2-1.

Statistics never tell the whole story, but here’s an interesting one that does paint a telling picture of this hockey team through 12 games. The Red Wings have scored 2.67 goals a game. And they’ve allowed 2.67 goals a game. If that doesn’t paint the picture of mediocrity, I’m not sure what does.

Granted, that’s over the entirety of the season. If the Red Wings were a stock, you would have been selling during the first week of the season and you’d probably be buying after they picked up 4 points during the weekend with wins over Edmonton and Los Angeles.

So if we can agree that they’re not quite as bad as they showed in the opening losses to St. Louis and Dallas, can we also agree that they’re not as good as they showed over the past week when they swept three straight games?

Three very legitimate questions linger than prevent us from anointing this team as a true contender in the Western Conference:

1) Defense

Injuries have ravaged the defensive corps, as every one of the top six defensemen other than Niklas Kronwall and Kyle Quincey have missed at least three games each. But even at full strength, this team lacks the depth to consistently defend Jimmy Howard. Howard played one of his best games in Sunday’s 3-2 win against the Kings. But how many times can he be counted on to make 45 saves? On the two goals he allowed (one in the final minute when Los Angeles had pulled its goalie) he made the initial stop, but no one was there to clear the puck. This has to improve either through trade or through general progress. But again, there has been no continuity of defensive pairings or of a top six. It’s pretty hard to develop consistency under those circumstances.

2) Goaltending

The concern isn’t whether Howard can do the job; he’s proven that he can. The concern is just how good he can be and just how good he needs to be. His save percentage is a rather pedestrian .906. But he’s had to play every single game but one because of injury to Jonas Gustavsson. And as stated before, he hasn’t gotten much help in front of him. The Red Wings have traditionally played great defense in front of their goaltenders, negating the need for one guy to carry a team. That may not be the case this season with this defense. And Howard has yet to prove he can carry a team on his own.

3) Secondary scoring

Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk have been marvelous. If there were an All-Star Game, both would be locks. Damian Brunner has been better than advertised with a team-high six goals. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the three skaters have combined for half of the Wings’ 32 goals on the season. It’s worked so far, but it won’t keep working. The onus is on Johan Franzen, who has three goals. If this team is going to go, he’s going to have to return to his goal-scoring ways that earned him his $5.25-million salary. In the old days of Red Wings hockey, Franzen’s quiet numbers wouldn’t be significant. With the cap, he’s required to do more.

Before the season started, GM Ken Holland admitted that he didn’t fully know what to expect from his team. And if he doesn’t know what to expect then we shouldn’t either. The good news is that the stars are shining and the defense has been better than feared. Brunner has been a huge find and a vital offensive threat. The bad news is that some of the lesser players who need to make an impact haven’t done much so far.

Normally, you’d say that there’s a long way to go. But not in this NHL. The Wings may not be championship-caliber quite yet. But clearly reports of their demise were greatly exaggerated.

FSD analyst and Hockey Hall of Famer Larry Murphy will answer your Red Wings questions in a live chat at 11 a.m. Tuesday at freep.com/sports. Submit early questions here.